This invention relates to a rocking crib and, more particularly, the invention is concerned with a multi-directional rocking crib which can have its sides moved in an undulating motion.
There have been many external source stimulants used to induce sleep to a newborn infant. Heretofore, a rocking action has been imparted to a crib or bed so that usually one side is uniformly raised and the other side is uniformly lowered and, in effect, one long side is raised or lowered about a center pivot or about a long axis through the longitudinal center of the crib. Specifically, taking a rectangular crib, for example, with two length or long sides and two width or short sides orthogonally connected to the long sides, when a rocking action is imparted to the crib, one of the length or long sides is raised and the other substantially parallel length side is lowered, while the width sides form an inclination between the length sides with one end of each width side being raised and the other end lowered, and the intermediate portions of the width or short sides being moved to a lower position in a uniformly decreasing position.
While the conventional crib could be rocked to see-saw about a central transverse axis perpendicular to the two long sides, such rocking is usually not done.
An object of the present invention is to achieve a multi-directional rocking of a crib so that rocking does not take place solely about a long axis or, for that matter, solely along a short axis orthogonal to the long axis or any diagonal axis, and to simulate a rocking action which takes place in the mother's womb, particularly because the unborn infant or foetus is, in effect, tethered to the mother by the mother's umbilical cord and, more specifically, the foetus should be considered to be suspended in an amniotic sac and susceptible to motion due to movement of the mother and external forces.
With the present invention, it is proposed to impart an external stimulant or environment to a newborn infant which simulates the last three months of its gestation. The external source stimulant induces the baby to go to sleep. The stimulant consists of the environment that replicates the mother's womb environment. The environment consists of the external stimulus a baby can feel or be subjected to while it is in the mother's womb. It is basically proven that, by the sixth month of gestation, a baby has developed most of its senses. While the baby is sleeping in the mother's womb, and moves from a wake state cycle to the period in which the baby enters into a deep sleep and the REM state, the baby thus forms a sleep cycle habit with the external environmental stimulant. This habit forming pattern while the baby is in the period of gestation is etched into the baby's pattern or habit before passing from the wake cycle state to the deep sleep state. Because the baby's senses are developed during gestation, the baby can thus sense these stimulants.
The stimulants consist of:
A) Sense of Hearing--The mother's womb sound:
The mother's womb sounds consist of a baby's heartbeat sound mixed with the amniotic fluid in the mother's womb. Such a regular rhythmetic sound provides the baby one of the external stimulants that is etched into the baby's habitual pattern. Now, it has been scientifically proven that the sound of the mother's womb can be eighty-six percent (86%) effective in pacifying a baby, and thirty-five percent (35%) effective in inducing a baby to sleep.
B) Sense of Sight--Colors with no distinguished patterns:
As the body is a permeable substance, it is assumed that, in daylight, some of this light passes into the womb. The amniotic fluid according to the baby can consist of many colors, as the light that is passing through the body may consist of many different colors, depending on the source of the light. Since a baby's eyes are not focused, it is expected that a baby may see shapes of colors while in the mother's womb.
C) Sense of Touch--Underwater sensations:
As the baby is underwater, it can be assumed that such sensation will feel as if we are underwater. This consists of a slight vibrational stimulant that is constantly working on all parts of the body.
D) Sense of Smell--The smell of the amniotic fluid:
As it can definitely be understood, as the baby is enclosed in a sac of amniotic fluid, the only smell it can smell is the amniotic fluid. This is a very restricted sense.
E) Sense of Balance--Multi-directional rocking movement:
Because the baby is suspended within the mother's womb, and it is constantly rocking slowly in the mother's womb in all directions in response to external movements. Further, as the mother moves, the baby also rocks in a certain direction responsive to the mother's movement. A rocking movement has been used for centuries now in inducing a baby to sleep.
By replicating the womb's environment, a baby's sleep disorder problems may be reduced. It is believed that babies can be induced to sleep faster by a rocking action simulating the rocking action to which the foetus was subjected during the last three months of gestation.
It is therefore another object of the invention to create or replicate the mother's womb environment for sleeping purposes effectively by providing a crib which not only rocks, also tilts to lower and raise adjacent sides while lowering adjacent sides having one of the adjacent sides in common which will provide stimulants as close as possible to the mother's womb environment.
The rocking or undulating crib which the present invention proposes to provide is not of the conventional type in which one side of the crib, possibly the long side, is moved so that the crib length is rocked about a center pivotal axis, much in the form of a see-saw, wherein one long side is raised to a point higher than the other and then lowered to a point lower than the other. For this purpose, some cribs have the four base legs provided with springs to assist in such rocking. Other forms of rocking are also imparted to a crib when the springs are not used with the legs.
It is believed that, during a child's first few weeks after delivery, the child is passing through a constant wake-sleep cycle throughout the day without passing through a state of drowsiness and light sleep. As the child grows until the sixth month, it is beginning to develop a wake-sleep cycle that may pass the child through a few states of drowsiness before entering deep sleep and REM.
The following is a chart to explain these states and the cycles throughout the day through which the child passes:
The first few weeks of an infant's life tends to follow the following pattern: ##STR1##
This cycle of wake-sleep cycle during the first few weeks may happen between seven to ten times during each twenty-four hour period, thus making the baby sleep approximately one to two hours before it enters into a wake state. However, as best understood after the first few months, the pattern or cycle changes to the following: ##STR2##
This cycle may occur from four to five times daily, so that the baby will sleep longer hours of time deviations of approximately three to four hours, thereby increasing the time or hours of deep sleep as well as the other states forming the cycle. During the stage of transitions, certain sleep disorders may exist. The pattern stated will persist throughout the child's life. Eventually, the child will develop a particularly unique sleep pattern which is specifically unique to that child, such as a one or two times per day sleep pattern, sleeping almost a total of ten hours. This stage usually occurs after six months from birth. In such a ten-hour period, the child may pass through the sleep cycle--perhaps four or five times per night.
Sleep disorder problems may occur between each sleep and wake cycle. It is also believed that the rocking crib produces stimulants or a stimulation or a soothing of the infant to reduce sleep disorders, by using the stimulants that the child has formed into a habit during the time of seven to nine months of gestation. The non-directional rocking crib is intended to perform two functions:
1) To provide a stimulus that is already a habit formed into the child for it to move smoothly onto a deep sleep state or to an REM state. PA1 2) To provide a stimulus during the stage that the infant moves from REM sleep to light sleep, in order to render the transition smooth.
The main cause of a child's waking up or crying at night is caused by a lack of the habit formed stimulus which is created due to a change in the environment during the last trimester and the environmental change after birth. For example, the mother may rock the child to sleep but, when the child wakes up between the states, it is unable to go to sleep because nobody is rocking it. In other words, the stimuli are not there.
The following is a chart of how the product works: ##STR3##
The invention can automatically provide an effective stimulus during the first initial period of falling asleep, and each period of sleep periods and wake periods, and by doing so will reduce effective problems of sleep disorders among children.
To these ends, the invention consists in the provision of a multi-directional rocking crib, having a base portion provided with a pivot about which the base portion pivots, a member such as an L-shaped member, having at least one arm with a weight at the end of the arm operatively associated with the pivot member and said at least one arm extending substantially parallel to the base of the base portion, and a motor or other means associated with the member having at least one arm for rotation thereof, and a weight at the end of the at least one arm to effect a tilting of the base portion or a movement of said base portion into different planes as the L-shaped member rotates relative to the pivot member to provide an undulating movement of the edge of each side of the base portion.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the member which is operatively associated with the pivot is a T-shaped member which includes a center member rotatably coupled with the pivot and a pair of arms forming the cross-bar of the T-shaped member, and a weight at the free end of each of the pair of arms so that each arm together with its associated weight forms a torque action on the center member, and the torque action produced by the combination of the end weight and length of the arm produces are different from each other to effect the tilting of the base portion or a movement of said base portion into different planes.
In one embodiment, the pivot member is a center pivot. In another embodiment, the pivot member is an offset pivot offset from a geometric center of the base portion; the base portion is substantially rectangularly-shaped and has two length sides and two width sides, the length sides being of greater extent than the two width sides, and the pivot member is disposed closer to at least one of the width sides.
While a preferred form of the invention includes two sides which are of a different size from the other two sides, a base portion, which is square instead of rectangularly-shaped will also be suitable. Also, it is possible for the base to have an outer perimeter which is circular or oval in shape.
To control the extent of vertical movement of at least one side, a projection is provided proximate to the side to have a different vertical movement from the other of the sides. The projection may also be used to maintain the base portion in a stable rest position with one of the width sides lower than the other of the sides.
A motor is coupled with the pivot member and the T-shaped member is coupled with the output shaft of the motor for rotation coaxially with the center of the pivot. The motor is coupled with the pivot member and the T-shaped member is coupled with the output shaft of the motor for rotation coaxially with a central axis of the pivot. Controls are also provided for controlling rotation of the T-shaped member, by regulating the speed of the motor.
The T-shaped member can also be provided with a non-directly connected motor and a belt coupling the motor and T-shaped member for rotation thereof, together with controls for regulating the speed of the motor.
It should also be noted that, in the embodiment in which an L-shaped member is used, the L-shaped member can also be provided with a non-directly connected motor and a belt coupling the motor and the L-shaped member.
For purposes of explanation and in a preferred embodiment, the multi-directional rocking crib includes a substantially rectangularly-shaped member for supporting an infant, and means are provided for raising one corner of the first set of two corners in a substantially vertical direction while lowering the other corner of the first set of two corners and lowering the one corner of the first set of two corners while commencing the raising of one corner of the other set of two corners and lowering the other corner of the other set of two corners and the one corner of the first set of two corners to impart an undulating movement to the rectangularly-shaped member, and at the head portion an elevation member is provided for controlling the extent to which the head portion is lowered when the feet portion is raised. To effect a raising of the different sides of the crib, a pair of arms are provided to rotate a weight on each arm about a pivot for lowering and raising the sides and corners of the crib.
If a single arm is used with a weight on the end of the arm, different sides of the crib base are lowered in response to the tilting of the crib about the pivot.
If a circular base is used, as an example, one portion is raised and a diagonally opposite portion is lowered, and the portion changes as the weighted member rotates. In a similar manner, an oval-shaped base operates to raise and lower substantially opposite portions.
The pivot member is at the bottom of the rectangularly-shaped member at an outside face portion thereof for contact with a flat surface and a T-shaped member or an L-shaped member is received in a rotatable joint coupled with the pivot for raising and lowering the base as the T-shaped member or the L-shaped member rotates relative to the pivot to cause the base to move in response to a rotatable see-saw action imparted to the base by the T-shaped member.
A weighted member is also provided so that the crib is balanced and does not result in a "hunting" condition to balance or maintain the crib in a non-undulating condition.
The T-shaped member and the L-shaped member can also be provided with suitable connectors so that the crib can be easily transportable.